All Semi-Auto's To Require 'Micro-Stamping' I.D.

This is a discussion on All Semi-Auto's To Require 'Micro-Stamping' I.D. within the Firearm Politics & 2nd Amendment Issues forums, part of the Main Category category; In a controversial move that some believe will essentially lead to a de facto ban on semi-automatic handguns, Attorney General ...

All Semi-Auto's To Require 'Micro-Stamping' I.D.

In a controversial move that some believe will essentially lead to a de facto ban on semi-automatic handguns, Attorney General Kamala Harris announced that, effective immediately, all new semi-automatic firearms sold in the State of California will require a unique microstamp on every shell ejected when a gun is fired.

Microstamping, or ballistic imprinting, is a technology patented in the 1990′s by engineer and NRA member Todd Lizotte. When a gun is fired, a tiny engraving on the firing pin etches a microscopic identifier onto the cartridge as it is expended by the firearm.

The law, which requires every semi automatic gun sold in the state to imprint the gun’s serial number on the cartridge, was signed into law by former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2007 and was delayed due to patent stipulations in the legislation.

The legislation specified that it would take effect only when the technology was available and all private patents had expired.

But at a Los Angeles news conference Friday, Harris announced that micro-stamping had cleared all technological and patenting hurdles and would be required on newly sold semiautomatics, effective immediately.

“The patents have been cleared, which means that this very important technology will help us as law enforcement in identifying and locating people who have illegally used firearms,” Harris said.

According to proponents of the legislation, ballistic micro-stamping will help law enforcement investigators track down firearms used in the commission of crimes:

Attorney Benjamin Van Houten of San Francisco’s Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence said the announcement should send a message to other states, the Obama administration and the gun industry that “this is the future and it’s really critical to helping law enforcement solve gun crimes.”

Implementation of micro-stamping “moves California to the forefront of the nation in combatting gun crime,” said the law’s author, former Assemblyman Mike Feuer, D-Los Angeles, who attended the news conference and is running for city attorney.

It’s not clear exactly how a firearm that has been illegally purchased, such as through straw buyers who purchased semi-automatic rifles to Mexican drug cartels from federal agents in Operation Fast and Furious, could help track down criminals using untraceable guns in the commission of a crime.

In addition to being ineffective in tracking gun crimes, NRA attorney C.D. Michel suggests that with firearm sales across the country already putting overwhelming demand on gun manufacturers, the new California law could lead to widespread shortages of handguns in the state:

“This is not going to help solve crimes,” he said. “It’s easily defeated, easily wears out and can be used to lead police down false alleys” if the serial numbers are altered.

Worse yet, Michel said, manufacturers will be unwilling to add this expensive feature to guns sold in a single state, and will instead keep manufacturing weapons for the other states, where demand already far exceeds supply.

The effect, he said, would be a ban on new semiautomatic handguns in California, which the NRA will challenge in court.

As has been the case with California’s 1990′s ban on semi-automatic rifles and larger capacity magazines, the microstamping legislation aims to reduce availability of firearms to law abiding citizens. Because the legislation specifically targets semi-automatic handguns, a staple personal self defense firearm, the vast majority of those affected will be people who simply want to own a handgun to protect themselves and their families.

The law will have almost no effect on a criminal’s ability to gain access to firearms through the black market. This has been proven time and again with semi-automatic rifles and shotguns, which are already illegal in California but are regularly used by gangs and criminals.

It will also be the case with new micro-stamped handguns, which just like non-ballistically identified firearms, can be stolen and moved through back channels without restriction. If anything, criminals will prefer stolen micro-stamped guns over others because when police forensic teams show up, their investigations will be diverted to the original owner of the firearm, not to the criminal who stole it or purchased it through underground dealers.

And for those who think this is restricted to the left-coast, similar legislation is under consideration in New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maryland, Wisconsin, and Illinois. Likewise, a federal push for micro-stamping was attempted in 2008 by both the House and the Senate in the form of the National Gun Crime Identification Act.

Microstamping is yet another purported “common sense approach” that makes no sense in the real world.

Anything that allows police to identify a murder weapon is a good thing. As responsible gun owners it is no threat to us.
When we get in a gun fight we already know we will comply with police and hand over our gun for processing.

This idiot actually got elected? Doesn't he realize that all guns already 'microstamp' every round it fires? Due to the manufacturing process, the firing pin, breech face, extractor and ejector, as well as the rifling in the barrel leave irrefutable evidence as to the gun that fired a specific shell casing and projectile. The science of ballistics already allows the police to match an ejected or discarded shell casing or a recovered projectile to a specific weapon. These tool marks, as they are known do a superior job of mictrostamping ammo. Why do we sit idly by and let the Granola state make rules that we all must abide by? This pipe dream of the Caliphony AG will not solve one crime, ever. We already have to have cars that are a plumber's nightmare undeer the hood, because of Caliphony smog rules, and now they are trying to do an end run around the Second Amendment. Hey, Granola Land, all you fruits, nuts and flakes can just keep your noses out of the other 49 stattes and territories.

The micro stamping is like a dna fingerprint. They want the "DNA" in a state file so as to trace a gun back to its owner immediately. If your gun is stolen and an empty shell casing is lying about in the street they will immediately come for a visit and a gun count. This will only lead to eventual prohibition on ownership of any firearm that does not have a "genetic profile" on file in California. My God you guys have a beautiful state but a butt ugly government. Ballistic marks are good but the ballistic marks don't tell anyone who the gun belongs to. This is just another waste of money and maybe it will shut the gun industry in California down for good. What I mean by that statement is that manufacturers may decide to not put up with the bs any longer which may force the citizens to rethink how they vote. I don't believe that governor moonbeam did not get any gun votes. The old axiom "if you keep on doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is the definition of insanity" holds very true in politics and elections. Crap...even John Roberts said elections have consequences. Maybe one of these days the liberal gun owners will understand what they are doing.

I just bought a new Bushmaster AR-15, and bought a whole parts kit with it, plus one ea. extra firing pin, takedown detent spring and set-pin for both takedown pins. Changing out a firing pin, or even an extractor if they eventually try to "fingerprint" them, takes less than five minutes. The firing pin is decidedly not anything like a DNA "fingerprint." It doesn't even equate to old fashioned blood-typing, as a replacement could, and almost certainly would, be comprised of different kinds of steels and/or alloys than the weapon's original firing pin was manufactured with from the factory.

So this could evolve the same way as other gun control bills have. After NFA '34 created the tax-stamp scheme for owning full-autos, they have been further regulated by GCA '68 and FOPA '86 to where all the "legal" ones will eventually dry up completely. This will be no different. "Microstamping" will be deemed to not be "enough" to control "crime," so replacement firing pins (or any other moving parts that leave identifying marks on shells and bullets) will be outlawed.

Anyone in CA who needs an extra firing pin, I've got a couple, but they're gonna cost about 100 times their weight in gold. It would be cheaper to move out of that Hell-hole, just like I did.

Anything that allows police to identify a murder weapon is a good thing. As responsible gun owners it is no threat to us.
When we get in a gun fight we already know we will comply with police and hand over our gun for processing.

No threat to us? My, my! So by your statement you are willing to pay the extra money per gun for a technology that is a pipe dream? That sir is the threat to us.

The technology may work but it is not going to solve a thing and will causes you and I to pay more for this product.

And just because I am not willing to pay for this technology does not make me irresponsible.